Thursday's Child
by MaryRoyale
Summary: Since the end of the war, Dudley has wondered about his cousin and the world into which Harry disappeared. He is given an unexpected second-chance at the world of magic and its inhabitants. Is he ready to face magic again? Cho Chang/Dudley Dursley. One-shot.


_A/N: I love prompty-prompts of promptiness. When I can get a couple of them it usually suggests a story in and of itself. In this case I got 'Two Worlds' by Phil Collins and a handbag. Two Worlds really sounds like a mixed blood family if you look at it through HP lenses. The lyrics seem to reference a family straddling the Muggle world and the magical world._

 _This gave me the courage to take the Falcons OTP for a spin. Our preciousss wrote a couple really good Cho Chang/Dudley Dursley one shots for the Quidditch Fanfiction League Challenge and for her 365 Drabbles challenge submission. It sounds like it shouldn't work at all… but the way she does it makes me think that maybe it could. So here's my attempt to make Cho/Dudley (Chudley?) plausible._

 _ **The 2016 Monthly Prompt List Challenge**_ _\- Prompt #21 (Item) handbag_

 _ **Acrostic-y Challenge of Chapter Titles II-**_ _(The final 'T' in 'The Sorting Hat') Two Worlds by Phil Collins_

 _And finally, Thursday's Child is from a poem that talks about the blessings/challenges given to you depending on what day of the week you were born. "Thursday's child has far to go" seemed to fit Dudley Dursley's character arc through the HP series. The cherry on top is that it is also the title of a David Bowie song and a nod to him._

/\/\/\/\/\

Though Dudley Dursley was no one's knight in shining armour, despite what his mother might think, when the woman in front of him stumbled and dropped her handbag he hurried forward to pick it up for her.

"Oh, don't bother," she had cried out, stretching out a hand to stop him.

At the time, he assumed she was just being polite and kept moving forward.

"No bother at all, miss," he had replied and picked up the delicate-looking little bag by its thin strap.

It was quick-thinking that kept Dudley from groaning aloud at the weight of the tiny handbag. It had to weigh _at least_ a stone. There was only way he knew of to make a tiny bit of nothing weigh that much. _Magic_. This handbag, and the woman it belonged to, came from the world that his cousin had left them to go save. They hadn't seen or heard from Harry in a couple of years, but those agents (or whatever they had been) said that they won and that he was okay.

Dudley wondered absently if she knew Harry.

The woman stared at him with wide panicked eyes. In that moment, Dudley realized that the woman... the _witch_... was afraid of him. An unpleasant feeling uncurled in his stomach. Shameful memories rose within him and he stamped them down. He didn't want anyone to ever be afraid of him again.

"Your bag, miss?" He offered it to her, trying to appear as though it weighed nothing.

Her eyes widened in surprise, and her mouth fell open. She glanced about the street furtively and then moved closer to him. The fear had retreated from her eyes, and Dudley felt a sense of accomplishment sweep through him.

"Thank you," she murmured and carefully took the handbag from him, shouldering its hidden weight with the ease of practice. She grimaced slightly. "I've always had problems with the Featherweight Charm."

The witch smiled at him and Dudley realized that she was quite fit. He knew how magic worked—people with magic disappeared and you never saw them again—and Dudley didn't want the pretty witch to leave just yet. In fact, Dudley wanted to get to know her better.

"Look, you wanna grab a pint?" Dudley figured he might as well try. "With me, I mean?"

"I-," the woman paused and her eyes narrowed on his face.

Dudley offered her a hesitant smile and tried to appear as non-threatening as possible.

"Sure," she said at last.

"Yeah?" Dudley couldn't help the surprise. Pretty girls didn't normally say 'yes' to him.

/\/\/\/\/\

"No," Cho said flatly.

"But, it's your world," Dudley protested, not understanding.

"Not anymore," Cho had countered in a tight, angry voice.

"Look, if it's because of me," Dudley began slowly as his mind tried to race ahead piecing out what he wanted to say—what he needed to say. History was not going to repeat itself. Dudley was never going to be like his mum or his dad.

"No, no, Dudley," Cho interrupted him. She put her hands on his cheeks and made him look at her. "There was a war."

"I know all about that," Dudley told her with a frown. "My cousin had us go into hiding. He was worried those Death Eater blokes were going to come after us."

Cho blinked at that. "Really? You had said that your cousin was a wizard, but I didn't realize-," she paused and shook her head. "It doesn't matter."

"Yeah, it does," Dudley countered. He looked at the tears trembling on her lashes and the sadness in her deep, brown eyes. "If you turn your back on your world, you let Voldemort win."

"You can say his name," Cho said with wonder. "Not many people can do that, in my world."

"He's dead, isn't he?" Dudley said with a shrug.

"Yes," Cho admitted.

"So let's go have lunch at your favourite café and then we'll go see if we can't find a birthday present for my mum," Dudley suggested.

"But your mother doesn't like magic," Cho protested.

"She's just going to have to get used to it," Dudley countered with a determined glint in his eye.

/\/\/\/\/\

"Let's have the wedding in your mum's garden," Cho suggested with a bright smile.

"I don't know, love. Your parents seem pretty keen on having your wedding at that Godric place," Dudley sighed. He rubbed a hand over his face. "They aren't very fond of Muggles, are they?"

"They're just going to have to get used to them," Cho retorted with a determined glint in her eye.

"Well, we'll just have to find somewhere that both worlds can meet," Dudley observed. "Is there anywhere like that?"

"Maybe we'll have to make one," Cho decided.

Dudley kissed her on the temple. "I like the sound of that."

/\/\/\/\/\

"Harry Potter."

Dudley frowned at his fiancée. "I don't know what the big deal is." 

"Harry Potter," Cho repeated.

"You knew my cousin was a wizard."

Cho glared at him. "But not that he was _Harry Potter_ ," she hissed.

"Is that a problem?" Dudley asked carefully.

Cho sighed and her shoulders slumped. "No, of course not, Dudley, but you should probably know that we kind of dated during my sixth year."

"You dated _Harry_?" Dudley sputtered.

"Not really. We tried, but I was... I was still getting over Cedric, and it was just a bad idea," Cho muttered.

"Cedric..." Dudley could feel a headache coming on. "Wasn't he the Triwizard Champion that... that..."

"Died," Cho finished for him in a soft voice.

"Harry had nightmares about that for months," he muttered.

"Well, my mother will be happy," Cho sighed. "Having Harry Potter at her daughter's wedding will give her something to brag about for years."

"We could always elope," Dudley offered.

Cho glared at him. "Are you kidding? _Both_ of our mothers would never let us hear the end of it."

/\/\/\/\/\

"She's beautiful," Petunia Dursley declared staunchly. She turned to her husband and tilted the bundle in her arms so that he could see it clearly. "Isn't she the most beautiful baby in the world?"

Vernon Dursley stared at the unbelievably tiny baby in Petunia's arms who scowled right back at him. He ran one finger over her petal-soft cheek and a tiny fist grabbed onto his finger. He tried to pull his finger away, but she held on. He blinked in surprise.

"She's got a grip on her," he said gruffly. He looked over at his son and daughter-in-law. "Bit like you were, Dudders."

Dudley winced at the childhood nickname. "Hopefully she'll be a nicer person than I was," he muttered.

Cho gave him a rueful smile. "Hopefully she'll be nicer than I was as well."

"Pufflehoff?" Dudley guessed with a quirked brow.

Cho laughed and shook her head. " _Hufflepuff_ ," she corrected him.

"She's a witch, then?" Petunia asked carefully.

"Yeah, Mum. She's a witch," Dudley replied. He glanced over at his father and then returned his attention to his mother. "Is that a problem?"

Petunia stared down at the little girl in her arms.

"Not at all," Petunia said softly. "Not at all."


End file.
